A group of Chinese fans of Korean soap operas have gone very public in response to a study published last year that suggested Chinese viewers of Korean “dramas” tend to be at the lower end of the education and income spectrum. Read More »

Operatives in the main opposition Democratic United Party say they hope that staging an exciting presidential nomination process with a frothy debate will lure voters to its candidate in the December election.

But first, it seems they need to shoot themselves in the foot a time or two. Read More »

Han Gyoung-hae, professor of Seoul Natiional University, discusses findings from a major study on South Korea’s baby boomers on March 8 in Seoul.

The demographic news in South Korea tends to always look bad.

The birthrate is the lowest of all advanced countries. And the country is aging more rapidly than any other.But a couple of new studies show the story isn’t all bad.

On Tuesday, the Seoul National University Institute on Aging, MetLife Mature Market Institute and Gallup Korea released the most comprehensive study ever done on South Korea’s “baby boomers,” the huge group of people born right after the Korean War, basically from 1954 to 1963. It’s about 7 million of the country’s 49 million people.

The study showed that the group is financially well-off and optimistic, though it also found that relatively few are prepared for retirement.

Kim Ran-do, professor at Seoul National University, and author of a best-selling book of advice for 20-somethings.

A Seoul National University professor who tapped into the angst of South Korea’s 20-somethings has hit the top of the best-seller lists.

Kim Ran-do, who teaches consumer science, wrote a straightforward advice book. Its title “You Are Young, Because You Are Hurt” plays to a sense of alienation in his target audience. The advice he dishes out plays to their hunger for direction.

“As a professor, I often meet university students in their 20s. They feel much pressure to be qualified for a better job, but have few mentors,” Mr. Kim said in an interview. “So I decided to write a book to give warm comfort for them. And I personally wanted to write stories for my son, who is now 20 years old.” Read More »

One lawmaker had to be taken out by stretcher after Wednesday’s fisticuffs in the South Korean parliament. When the fights and shouts were done, lawmakers passed 41 bills, including one that put the country’s top university on the path to privatization.

Lost in the coverage over the flying fists and national budget at the National Assembly is that lawmakers whipped through 41 bills on Wednesday. And one of them began reshaping the country’s top university — Seoul National — from a government-owned institution into a private one. Read More »

About Korea Real Time

Korea Real Time provides sharp analysis and insight into what’s making news on the Korean peninsula. We chronicle the growing pains of South Korea — a country that has skyrocketed into the club of the world’s richest nations but now faces significant headwinds, and shine a spotlight on one of the world’s biggest geopolitical flashpoints: North Korea. Drawing on the expertise of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, we’ll tell the stories behind the headlines in business, economics, politics, culture and lifestyle. You can contact the editors at korearealtime@wsj.com